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Without content, inbound doesn't exist. Great content is created with your ideal buyers in mind. Content that converts focuses on providing those ideal customers solutions to their problems and is tailored to precisely where they are in the buyer's journey. This class will explore not only what makes great content, but how you can develop a content creation machine at your own organization. This class fits into the "Convert" stage of Inbound Methodology - we create the right kinds of content that converts website visitors into leads. http://academy.hubspot.com/inbound-marketing-certification/convert/offers
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CREATING CONTENT WITH A PURPOSE. Inbound Certification Class #5
#INBOUND
1 Why inbound marketing can’t exist without content
2 How to create remarkable content
3 Content that converts
4 Key takeaways and resources
AGENDA
WHY INBOUND MARKETING CAN’T EXIST WITHOUT CONTENT. 1
What is content?
Content is the message your inbound marketing strategy delivers.
IMAGE CREDIT: FLICKR USER OYAM
Without content, the internet would be empty.
IMAGE CREDIT: FLICKR USER SERGEYUS
Space Pre-Internet Era Post-Internet Era
Attention
93% of B2B marketers use content
marketing, but only
42% say they’re effective at it.
of the sales cycle is over before a
prospect ever talks to a salesperson.
60%
40% 60%
CORPORATE EXECUTIVE BOARD: bit.ly/zub2I7
of the sales cycle is in the hands of marketers and
content they create.
SALES
MARKETING
60%
CORPORATE EXECUTIVE BOARD: bit.ly/zub2I7
That’s where having the right content comes
in: capturing your prospect's attention.
HOW TO CREATE REMARKABLE CONTENT. 2
If you're creating product-based content, it's going to be good but it's never going to be remarkable.
Remarkable content is solution, not product-based.
To provide a solution, you must understand the problem.
But: you can’t solve a problem if you don’t know what it is.
TWO KEYS TO CREATING REMARKABLE CONTENT
IMAGE CREDIT: FLICKR USER JUST.LUC
HOW TO CREATE REMARKABLE CONTENT
The Buyer’s Journey
Buyer personas
HOW TO CREATE REMARKABLE CONTENT
The Buyer’s Journey
Buyer personas
Semi-fictional representations of your ideal customer based on real data and some select educated speculation
about customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals.
BUYER PERSONAS
If you know who they are, you know what they’re interested in.
HOW TO CREATE REMARKABLE CONTENT
The Buyer’s Journey
Buyer personas
The Buyer’s Journey The research process people go through leading up to making a purchase.
THE BUYER’S JOURNEY
• Analyst reports • Research reports • eBooks • Editorial content • Expert content • Whitepapers • Educational Content
• Expert guides • Live interactions • Webcase • Podcast • Video • Comparison
whitepapers
• Vendor comparison • Product comparison • Case studies • Trial download • Product Literature • Live demo
Prospect is experiencing and expressing symptoms of a problem or opportunity.
Prospect has now clearly defined and given a name to their problem or opportunity.
Prospect has now decided on their solution strategy, method, or approach.
THE BUYER’S JOURNEY AND CONTENT
Provide educational content to help prospects educate themselves about the overarching issue, root problem, or potential opportunity at hand.
THE BUYER’S JOURNEY
Provide educational content to help prospects learn more about the specific problem, opportunity, or issue.
THE BUYER’S JOURNEY
Provide content and resources that help prospects learn more about and choose the best solution for their problem.
THE BUYER’S JOURNEY
It has the very important job pulling people from one
stage of the methodology to another.
Content is the honeypot.
IMAGE CREDIT: FLICKR USER ROBERT LENDER
“Ok, so how do I actually make this stuff?”
Building a content creation machine
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Goal here is to create a content creation infrastructure because that provides momentum.
Processes create momentum. IMAGE CREDIT: FLICKR USER EVOO73
1. Plan
2. Produce
3. Distribute
4. Analyze
(Repeat)
The Content Process
1. Plan 2. Produce 3. Distribute 4. Analyze (Repeat)
Before creating content, be sure you know what you’re going to create and why you’re creating it. That is determined by your personas, buyer’s journey, and business goals.
PLAN
What’s the goal?
What’s the goal? IMAGE CREDIT: FLICKR USER CORSCRI
- COMING UP WITH ACTUAL IDEAS
- Great content is educational: remember that your ultimate content goal is to solve your persona’s problems—and that the way that occurs is through education.
IMAGE CREDIT: FLICKR USER TNCOUNTRYFAN
• Keyword research – what you want to rank for
• Internet forums
• Popular industry news
• Sales/support FAQs
• Your personas’ goals
• Your personas’ challenges
WAYS TO IDENTIFY TOPICS THAT MATTER
80/20 for content creation
The content GOLDEN RULE
TALK BENEFITS, NOT FEATURES. Benefits tie into emotional desires; features mostly have a rational appeal.
Benefit: You can get a tasty, hot breakfast fast, on the way to work -- without getting out of your car.
Feature: McDonald’s has drive-up windows.
Create your content. Follow your plan for what you’ll produce, who will produce it, and by when. Develop a production strategy that makes sense to you.
PRODUCE
PRODUCE Transforming content ideas into real conversions.
If you are still exclusively publishing content about your products and services, stop.
And now the cold, hard truth: No one cares about your brand. They want answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.
This means not only which tool you use, but where it is and what you say about it that makes it relevant. it can be really great content, but if it's not relevant to the person when they're seeing it, it doesn't matter how great it is.
DISTRIBUTE
Delivery makes content relevant. You can’t just create content—you also need to be sure it gets
out into the world.
BE CONSISTENT WITH CONTENT CREATION. Publish content at a regular rate. Content is the lifeblood of a successful inbound strategy—so be sure you keep pumping it out at a steady rate.
Before washing and repeating, make sure what you’re doing is working. Why did it work? Why didn’t it? Use that insight to create better content moving forward.
ANALYZE
1 Number of visits
2 Leads generated
3 Social proof, share-ability
4 Inbound links
5 Content performance by author
6 Content performance by topic
7 Content performance by format
METRICS TO CONSIDER WHEN ANALYZING CONTENT EFFICACY
Take what you learned from each piece of content created to make each one down the road more effective – and remember to follow that 80/20 rule!
REPEAT
CONTENT THAT CONVERTS. 3
Content quality is the single most important factor for increasing conversion rates.
Buyer personas
HOW TO CREATE REMARKABLE CONTENT
The Buyer’s Journey
1. Plan
2. Produce
3. Distribute
4. Analyze
(Repeat)
THE CONTENT PROCESS
1. Plan 2. Produce 3. Distribute 4. Analyze (Repeat)
Let’s apply this to an example!
Persona: Marketing Mary Buyer’s Journey: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision Distribution: Social media, blog, website pages Creation timeline: 3 months Who’s responsible: The HubSpot Marketing Team Goal: Purchase inbound marketing software
PLAN
What to make: Blog posts, website content, offers, social media messages What it’s about: Increased lead generation (her goal/pain point)
PRODUCE
How to distribute: Website pages, blog, social media, landing pages, email
DISTRIBUTE
Visits goal: 800k visits in 60 days Leads goal: 40k leads in 60 days Customers goal: 400 customers in 60 days
ANALYZE
MARKETING MARY AWARENESS STAGE CONTENT
Goal: Purchase Inbound Marketing Software Topic: Increased lead generation
Awareness stage blog post, eBook, and social media message: High level educational content helps Mary learn more about her marketing options as a whole and how inbound might be one way to get more leads.
Awareness stage page: ”About” type pages help answer Mary’s questions
about “what inbound marketing is in the
first place.”
WHY THIS WORKS Mary needs to learn what inbound marketing is in the first place before she can determine if it can help her get leads and might be something she wants to invest in.
MARKETING MARY CONSIDERATION STAGE CONTENT
Goal: Purchase Inbound Marketing Software Topic: Increased lead generation
Consideration stage blog posts: Help Mary learn specifically about how Inbound Marketing can help her accomplish her business goals and get more leads.
Consideration stage infographic: helps Mary learn more about the
specifics of inbound marketing and how it relates to what she was doing
before: outbound marketing.
WHY THIS WORKS Now that Mary knows what inbound marketing is, she needs to learn how it can help her get more leads and achieve her overall business goals.
MARKETING MARY DECISION STAGE CONTENT
Goal: Purchase Inbound Marketing Software Topic: Increased lead generation Decision stage content: Case studies help Mary
determine if a particular inbound marketing tool & lead gen strategy will work for her.
Decision stage blog: Content that provides
comparisons or specific information on specific
products is useful in this stage.
WHY THIS WORKS Mary is bought in on inbound marketing and lead generation strategies, now she needs to decide which provider or service best suits her need.
IMPORTANT: It’s not until this stage where you should write content about your own company. People aren’t ready to hear about it until they get here!
Inbound doesn’t end at the close. Topic and product-specific content, advanced strategy, and education to help users take their lead generation to the next level can also be provided post-sale.
MARKETING MARY DELIGHT CONTENT
Goal: Retain as a customer and delight into promoter Topic: Increased lead generation
How many visits: Goal = 800k; actual = 1 million How many leads: Goal = 40k; actual = 30k How many customers: Goal = 200; actual = 150
ANALYZE
How many visits: Goal = 800k; actual = 1 million How many leads: Goal = 40k; actual = 30k How many customers: Goal = 200; actual = 150
ANALYZE
WHY THIS WORKS Get a view into what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus on with future content strategies.
KEY TAKEAWAYS AND RESOURCES. 4
1 Content is the fuel that your inbound strategy runs off of.
2 Great content must be tied to both your persona and where they are in the buyer’s journey.
3 Follow the 80/20 rule and create mainly awareness and consideration stage content.
4 Make sure everything you create is helpful to your personas.
5 Strategy creates momentum: Plan, produce, distribute, analyze, repeat.
6 Distribution is what makes content relevant. Share content and share on a regular basis.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
RESOURCES 1 A Practical Guide to Creating Killer Marketing Content
[eBook]
2 Creating a Content Machine at Your Organization [eBook]
3 Editorial Calendar [downloadable template]
4 35 Free Templates to Make Content Creation Faster [blog post + templates]
